JP5464967B2 - Liquid volume display device and device for liquid container - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid amount display device for a liquid container that displays a water level when a liquid such as water is put into the container, and an apparatus including the liquid amount display device for the liquid container.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a rice cooker that condenses steam generated during heating by introducing it into a tank containing cooling water and dissipating it into the cooling water. As such, a frame, a storage case provided in the frame, an inner pot provided slidably in the storage case, an openable / closable lid covering the inner pot, and one side of the frame A water tank provided on the inner pot, and a steam passage communicating the inner pot and the water tank, and the steam generated from the inner pot is introduced into the water tank through the steam path and brought into contact with water. There is an electric rice cooker that liquefies (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Here, when a user puts water into the water tank, a water level display as a guide is displayed by stamping or printing on the tank or sticking a seal as shown in FIG.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 03-231613 (2nd page, FIG. 1)

When the specified amount of water 6 is put into the water tank 1 containing the cooling water, the water level display indicating the full position is marked 5 or printed as shown in FIG. In many cases, the color of 5 or the seal 4 is almost the same as the color of the tank 1. In this case, the visibility of the water level display and the water surface position is poor, and it is difficult to adjust the amount of water. Conventionally, in order to make the water surface position easy to understand, connecting the liquid pipe from the bottom of the tank 1 and removing the liquid pipe from the observation window, attaching a light to the periphery of the tank, and partially using fluorescent material There was an improvement method such as, but there was a problem that the cost was very high.
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and can easily confirm the water level in the container and the excessive addition of water visually from the surface of the water, and the work of adding a specified amount of water is easy. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a liquid amount display device for a liquid container and a device provided with the liquid amount display device for the liquid container.

The liquid amount display device for a liquid container according to the present invention is a container in which at least a predetermined region containing a light-transmitting liquid is transparent , and is affixed to an outer surface of the predetermined region of the container. A first printing unit indicating the height of the surface, and a seal having a second printing unit describing the height of the liquid level at the time of full water and the content of the description, the seal in the first printing unit When the adhesive is not applied and the adhesive is applied in the second printing unit and light is incident through the liquid level from above the liquid level of the liquid contained in the container, Inside, the light directed to the portion of the seal below the liquid surface where the adhesive is not applied is totally reflected on the outer surface of the container, and the portion of the seal where the adhesive below the liquid surface is applied light is characterized by not being totally reflected toward the Monodea .

According to the present invention, when a user puts liquid into the container and looks at the printed surface of the seal from the direction shown in FIG. 3, the portion where the adhesive below the liquid surface is not applied is the liquid in the container. The light incident from above the liquid surface through this liquid surface undergoes total reflection on the outer surface (interface) of the container to which the seal is attached, and there is no light from the outer surface of the container to the printing surface of the seal. It will not look like 4. However, the description of the part where the adhesive is applied includes light that reaches the printing surface of the seal even when liquid enters (light that passes through the medium of the container) and can be visually observed as shown in FIG.
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when water 6 that is liquid is poured into the vicinity of the upper end of the seal 14, the display 15 indicating the water level when the water is full is below the water surface because the adhesive is applied. Can also be seen, and the user knows that too much water has been added. According to the present invention, the position of the water surface can be easily confirmed, and the operation of adding a specified amount of water becomes easy.

It is affixing figure of the seal | sticker to the tank which shows Embodiment 1 which concerns on this invention. It is an example of the content of seal printing in the present invention and an adhesive application range. This is the direction in which the seal print surface is viewed. It is a view of the seal in the present invention viewed from the direction of the arrow. It is an appearance of the seal in the product of the present invention when water enters the upper end of the seal. It is a reference figure in case light injects into a water tank. It is sticking example 2 of the seal | sticker by this invention. It is a seal of sticking example 2 of the seal according to the present invention. It is sticking example 3 of the seal | sticker by this invention. It is a seal of sticking example 3 of the seal according to the present invention. It is sticking example 4 of the seal | sticker by this invention. It is sectional drawing of the example of a water level display of the conventional tank into which normal water is put.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is an affixing diagram of a seal to a tank showing Embodiment 1 according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid container is a steam cooling water tank 1 of a rice cooker. The steam cooling water tank 1 uses a transparent material, and further, a seal 14 indicating the water level of liquid liquid on the outside of the tank 1. Paste. The tank 1 is provided with a positioning projection 13 at a position where the seal 14 is attached.
In addition, you may form a line | wire and a recessed part other than a convex part for the positioning at the time of sticking 14 sticking.
The seal 14 is printed on the surface of the transparent seal mount 12 so that a display indicating the water level can be read from the water surface 7 side, and further an adhesive is applied. The water level is displayed by arrows, lines, characters, symbols, etc. as shown in FIG.
The position of the water surface 7 is indicated by a strip-shaped oblique line (shaded part 17) that is long in the direction of increasing water shown in FIG. A sufficient clearance 18 is provided between the hatched portion 17 and the arrow on the right side of the hatched line in consideration of printing misalignment.
In the first embodiment, the adhesive on the sealing surface is applied to a portion excluding the band-like oblique line portion 17 indicating the water surface position shown in FIG. As a result, when the user puts water 6 into the water tank 1 and looks at the seal printing surface 11 from the direction shown in FIG. 3, the band-like portion not coated with the adhesive below the water surface 7 is transparent to the water tank 1. The light passing through the inside of the material becomes invisible as shown in FIG. 4 due to total reflection at the interface between the inside of the transparent material and the non-adhered portion 10 on the seal printing surface 11 side. However, the display content of the portion where the adhesive is applied does not undergo total reflection even when water enters, so that it can be visually observed as shown in FIG.
Also, as shown in FIG. 5, when water 6 is poured to the vicinity of the upper end of the seal, the display 15 indicating the water level position when the water is full is coated with an adhesive, so even if the display 15 falls below the water surface. It can be seen and the user knows that too much water has been added.

The reason why the seal print surface 11 of the non-bonding part 10 becomes invisible when water 6 is put into the water tank 1 will be described.
When light enters the water tank 1 (see FIG. 6),
When the refractive index of the medium A (air) is nA (≈1) and the incident angle θ1 from air to water is θ1, the reflection angle of the reflected light 1 at the interface between the medium A (air) and the medium B (water) is also θ1. Become.
The refractive index of the medium B (water) is nB (≈1.33), and the air-to-water transmission angle θ2.
When the refractive index of the medium C (tank) is nC (≈1.54, when the medium C is MBS resin) and the incident angle θ3 from the water to the tank 1, the medium B (water) and the medium C (tank) The reflection angle of the reflected light 2 at the interface is also θ3.
According to the law of refraction (Snell's law), since nAsin θ1 = nBsin θ2, the incident angle to water and the transmission angle have the following relationship.
Since nA <nB, θ1> θ2.
When the transmission angle θ4 from water to the tank 1 is assumed, the incident angle from the tank 1 to the air is also θ4. The reflection angle of the reflected light 3 at the interface between the medium C and the medium A is also θ4.
When the transmission angle θ5 from the tank 1 to the air is
nAsin θ5 = nCsin θ4 = nBsin θ3.
Here, the refractive index nA in the medium A, the refractive index nB in the medium B, and the refractive index nC in the medium C are absolute refractive indices with respect to vacuum, respectively. In addition, the inner wall of the tank 1 in contact with the water in the tank 1 is vertical, and the outer wall on the outside of the tank 1 and the inner wall of the tank 1 face each other in parallel.
The incident angle θ3 to the wall of the water tank 1, the transmission angle θ4, and the transmission angle θ5 from the water tank 1 to the air have the following relationship.
Since nA <nB, θ5> θ3
Since nC> nB, θ4 <θ3
When θ5 = 90 ° (critical angle), the incident angle θ1 is
nAsin θ5 = 1 × 1 = nCsin θ4 = 1.54 sin θ4
∴sin θ4 = 1 / 1.54, θ4 = sin ⁻¹ (1 / 1.54) [rad]
nCsin θ4 = nBsin θ3
1.54 × 1 / 1.54 = 1.33sin θ3
∴sin θ3 = 1 / 1.33, θ3 = sin ⁻¹ (1 / 1.33) [rad]
From FIG. 6, θ3 = π / 2−θ2, θ2 = π / 2−θ3
nAsin θ1 = nBsin θ2 = nBsin (π / 2−θ3) = nBcos θ3
1 × sin θ1 = 1.33 × cos ( sin ⁻¹ (1 / 1.33)) = 1.33 × 0.659 = 0.877
∴θ1 = sin ⁻¹ (1.33 × cos ( sin ⁻¹ (1 / 1.33))) = 61.3 °
When the incident angle θ1 from the medium A (air) to the medium B (water) is smaller than 61.3 °,
There is no transmitted light from the medium C (tank) to the medium A (air), and there is only reflected light 3 at the interface between the medium C (tank) and the medium A (air) (total reflection).
A user who wants to see the seal 14 having a gap (an air layer formed in the non-adhesive portion 10) with the outer wall of the tank 1 through the water 6 and the tank 1 is required to transmit transmitted light from the tank 1 to the outside air. The seal printing surface 11 is seen. Therefore, when θ1 is smaller than 61.3 °, there is no transmitted light from the tank 1 to the outside air (the reflected light 3 is totally reflected), so that the user cannot see the seal printing surface 11. Become.
On the other hand, when the seal 14 is affixed to the outer wall of the tank 1 without a gap (air layer), the user views the seal 14 ahead of the transmitted light in the medium of the tank 1 through the water 6 and the tank 1. It will be. The transmitted light in the medium of the tank 1 also exists when the incident angle θ1 is smaller than 61.3 °, and reaches the interface between the medium C (tank 1) and the medium A (air). Therefore, the transmitted light in the medium of the tank 1 reaches the seal 14 attached to the interface between the medium C (tank 1) and the medium A (air). Therefore, even if θ1 is smaller than 61.3 °, the seal printing surface 11 can be seen.

According to the first embodiment, by configuring as described above, when the user puts water 6 into the water tank 1 and sees the seal printing surface 11 of the seal 14 from the direction shown in FIG. The band-shaped printing unit 17 to which the lower adhesive is not applied is applied to the outer surface (interface) of the container where the seal is attached to the light incident through the liquid surface from above the liquid surface in the container. Total reflection occurs, and the light from the outer surface of the container to the printing surface of the seal disappears, so that it does not look like FIG. However, in the display of the printed part with the adhesive applied, “Pour water until the diagonal line disappears (including the left-pointing arrow)”, the description of the display “Add water” below the water surface contains water 6 However, there is light that reaches the printing surface of the seal (light that passes through the medium of the container) and can be visually observed as shown in FIG.
In addition, when water 6 is inserted to the vicinity of the upper end of the seal 14 as shown in FIG. 5, the display 15 indicating the water level at the time of full water is coated with an adhesive, so that it can be visually observed even if it is below the water surface 7. Since the user can see that the water 6 has been added excessively, the water surface position can be easily confirmed. Therefore, the operation of adding a specified amount of water 6 is facilitated.
In addition, you may comprise so that the display which shows the water level at the time of full water may disappear, when an adhesive agent is apply | coated and it falls below the water surface 7 in order to raise the visibility of a water surface position.
Further, the printing color of the printing unit 17 may be configured to be different from the printing color of the area other than the printing unit 17 of the seal 14. Thereby, since only the part which disappears differs in color, visibility improves.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the steam cooling water tank 1 of the rice cooker uses a transparent material, and the water tank 1 is covered with a cover 19 using an opaque material. A seal 14 as shown in FIG. The adhesive of the seal 14 is applied to the entire back surface (adhesive application surface 20) of the seal 14. When the user puts water 6 into the water tank 1 and sees the printing surface 11 of the seal 14 from the direction shown in FIG. 3, the printing surface below the water surface 7 is light that passes through the transparent material inside the water tank 1. On the other hand, it becomes invisible due to total reflection on the outer surface (interface) of the water tank 1 facing the printing surface, the visibility of the position of the water surface 7 is improved, and water can be easily measured.
The display indicating the water level of the water tank 1 may be displayed on the cover 19 side by stamping or printing.
In the above example, the printing portion 17 of the seal 14 has been described as a band-like region continuous in one direction (the height direction when attached to the water tank 1). However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be a continuous area having a free shape (for example, an animal picture). By making a continuous area in a free shape like an animal picture, the water level can be confirmed while enjoying visibility while ensuring visibility. Further, it is not necessary to be continuous, and for example, a plurality of discontinuous areas arranged in one direction on the seal 14 may be printed. When it is necessary to set the amount of water in the water tank to a plurality of different amounts, the target water level corresponding to each amount is displayed on the printing unit. Although all target water levels can be displayed on one seal, a large seal is required particularly when the target water level is greatly different. Therefore, a plurality of seals on which the respective target water levels and predetermined upper and lower regions are printed may be attached to the water tank, and the material cost of the seals can be saved.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
The steam cooling water tank 1 of the rice cooker uses a transparent material, and a sticker 14 indicating the water level and the like as shown in FIG. The seal 14 is printed on the surface of the transparent seal mount 12 so that a display indicating the water level can be read from the water surface 7 side (printed in an area other than the paper 21 to be described later), and further on the back surface (the container 8 side). An adhesive is applied. The water level is displayed by arrows, lines, characters, symbols, etc. as shown in FIG. In the third embodiment, the adhesive is applied to the entire back surface (container 8 side) (adhesive application surface 20) of the printing surface 11 of the seal mount 12. The paper 21 printed in FIG. 10 with a long strip-shaped diagonal line in the direction of increasing water (described in FIG. 9 by the white portion on the left side of the center of the adhesive application surface 9 in the vertical direction) is applied to the adhesive application surface of the seal 14. After being affixed to the specified position of 20, the seal 14 is affixed to the water tank 1 so as to be sandwiched between the wall of the tank 1 and the seal. Adhesive is not applied to the back surface (container 8 side) of the paper 21, and a gap (air layer) exists between the paper 21 and the outer surface of the container 8 facing the paper 21. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, the portion below the water surface 7 in the diagonal lines printed on the back surface of the paper 21 is not visible, and the position of the water surface 7 can be displayed with good visibility.
In addition, it is desirable that a sufficient clearance 18 is provided between the hatched portion and the arrow on the right side of the hatched line in consideration of a shift in printing and a shift in pasting.

Embodiment 4.
A seal 23 is attached to the outer side surface of the measuring cup 22 made of a transparent material as shown in FIG. Here, the liquid container is the measuring cup 22. As shown in FIG. 11, the seal 23 displays a strip-shaped hatched portion 24 that is long in the direction in which the water surface position increases on a transparent sheet mount, and a display indicating the water level on both sides thereof as a horizontal line and a scale. The adhesive of the seal 23 is applied to the portion excluding the belt-like shaded portion 24.
As a result, when the user puts water into the measuring cup and looks at the seal print 11 surface from the top of the water surface 7, the strip-shaped hatched portion below the water surface becomes invisible, so that the visibility of the water surface is improved, Weighing is easy.

  In the description of the above-described embodiment, the scale of the seal provided on the outer wall of the water tank 1 is applied to the part where the adhesive is not applied and the part where the adhesive is applied. The difference in appearance seen through the wall surface is realized by the presence or absence of total reflection at the interface of the outer wall of the water tank 1 due to the presence or absence of a gap (air layer) in the outer wall of the water tank 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this air layer, and a medium having a refractive index smaller than the absolute refractive index of water (medium B) may be interposed instead of the air layer. At the interface between the medium and the water tank 1, total reflection occurs with respect to light transmitted through the wall of the water tank 1, and the same effect as in the case of the air layer is obtained.

  The liquid amount display device for the liquid container described above is used in the following devices.

  The present invention relates to a product having a water tank, such as a water tank for ice making, a water heater pot, a water tank for a humidifier, a water tank for a dehumidifier, a water tank for an iron, a coffee maker, a mixer, a juicer, etc. It can be used for products having tanks for storing liquids other than water, such as oil tanks and chemical tanks for heaters, measuring instruments such as measuring cups, measuring spoons, beakers and graduated cylinders, daily necessities using the characteristics of the present invention, and toys.

  1 Water tank, 2 Adhesive application surface, 3 Printing surface, 4 Seal, 5 Engraving, 6 Water, 7 Water surface, 8 Transparent material container, 9 Adhesive application surface, 10 Non-adhesive part, 11 Printing surface, 12 Seal mount, 13 seal positioning convex part, 14 seal, 15 display indicating water level when full, 16 part except for the inclined part on the seal printing surface side is the adhesive application surface, 17 long striped diagonal lines in the direction of increasing water Print section, 18 Clearance, 19 Opaque material cover, 20 Seal printing surface side is adhesive coated surface, 21 Printed long striped diagonal line in the direction of increasing water, 22 Measuring cup (transparent material), 23 Seal, 24 A long and slanted belt-shaped shaded area.

Claims (8)

A container in which at least a predetermined region containing a liquid that transmits light is transparent,
A first printing unit that is affixed to the outer surface of the predetermined region of the container and indicates the level of the liquid level, and a second printing unit that describes the level of the liquid level when full and the description content A seal having
In the first printing unit, the seal is not applied with an adhesive, and in the second printing unit, an adhesive is applied.
When light is incident through the liquid level from above the liquid level of the liquid stored in the container, the light travels toward a portion of the seal below the liquid level where the adhesive is not applied. The liquid amount display device for a liquid container, wherein light is totally reflected on an outer surface of the container, and light directed to a portion of the seal applied with an adhesive below the liquid surface is not totally reflected. The liquid amount display device for a liquid container according to claim 1 , wherein the first printing unit is a printing region continuously extending in one direction. The liquid amount display device for a liquid container according to claim 1 , wherein the first printing unit includes a plurality of printing regions. Amount of the liquid container according to claim 1, print color of the first printing unit, characterized in that differ from the print color of the region other than the first printing section of the seal Display device. Said seal, said first to the printing unit water does not penetrate any of claims 1 to 4, the adhesive on the outer periphery entire circumference of the first printing unit, characterized in that it is applied 1 Liquid volume display device of the liquid container according to item . The seal is a liquid container according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a clearance for absorbing the displacement of the printing between the first print portion and the second printing unit Liquid volume display device. The container, for positioning when pasting the seal, fluid volume display system for a liquid container according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it has a line or unevenness. Apparatus characterized by comprising a liquid volume display system for a liquid container according to any one of claims 1-7.

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